Tuesday was one of those days school superintendents hate. A surprise snow shows up during the day that very quickly creates hazardous conditions. The forecast called for little or no snow and a high of 37 with noon being the time snow (if any) will end.

Of course, the forecasters were wrong.

All the area superintendents make decisions during times like this based upon three factors;

1) The forecast.

2) The time when driving conditions will be at their best. Most accidents happen when the surprise snow first occurs because there are patches of good driving followed by treacherous areas. After drivers become more aware of hazards they drive slower and become more careful. We have a lot of parents who will get out on the streets to come to schools and pick up their children when school dismisses. We also have a high school full of inexperienced student drivers. We really try to keep both groups off the streets during the most treacherous times, if we can at all. Tuesday’s forecast for the snow to end at noon led me to believe that waiting for better conditions later in the day would be safer for all. The worst thing you can do is to send the students out in the middle of the storm. Waiting gives time for the storm to pass (as forecast) and also gives city, county, and state road departments time to improve road conditions.

3) Visual inspection. You get out and drive the roads. School personnel are out driving roads almost immediately and are in constant communication with district administrators about road conditions. We also monitor weather conditions on various websites and radar tracking sites.

Tuesday ended up being a hard day to figure out. We did not dismiss in the morning due to obvious dangerous conditions and the forecast of improving conditions. In the end, we dismissed a little early to give the buses extra time and to avoid a possible refreeze. From that point we monitored our buses as they progressed down their routes via bus radio to make sure they didn’t get into trouble and hoped everyone else drove safely over what should be improved road conditions.

That’s what happens on surprise snow days at your school district. I appreciate your understanding and hope this information will help you to understand the thought process that goes into days like Tuesday. There will be other similar days in the future.

By the way, we don’t count students absent when parents come to school to pick up their children before school is dismissed on snow days.